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Ten: What does your rival place pride in? Ryouga's pride? Easy enough, as our agents can determine. His titan, Hyperion. That Slipstream Charge manoeuvre he's so attached to. His skills as a titan pilot. No art, no creative hobbies. He hasn't written any works of note, his entire creative output is as a soldier, and optimising the harm he can do in a Titan. This is what it means to be a warrior for the Terrans.
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Jun 9, 2021 08:39
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Nine: What is your Rival's goal, to the best of your knowledge? The complete destruction of the Federation and all the people in it. A mad preacher, spitting firebrand rhetoric that they're surrounded on all sides by devils and monsters, and that only holy fire can cleanse them and give them the peace they deserve. Completely blind to any attempts we have made to secure peace and non-aggression. Completely deaf to sense and sensibility. If we want any hope of brokering peace... he will have to go, before he can spread lies and deceit and poison the hearts of the people.
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Jun 9, 2021 15:53
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 Two Stars circle eachother, locked in fatal orbit..Ryouga and Ephraim, your inexorable path ends here.  The end is coming. You may now draw Ringdown Cards.
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Jun 9, 2021 15:59
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5: You receive help from an unexpected ally! Who? It seems our disinformation campaign bore some particularly ripe fruit: A mole inside Ryouga's own unit, his own most trusted associates, one able to put two and two together and realise that, with the fighting confined to Terran invasions of Union territory, maybe they didn't have the right of it after all. Of course we maintained a healthy skepticism, but the information she provided was verifiable by both our own agents and through backchannel intercepts, and by reality. The tide began to turn, with her information we knew where they were going to invade next, and had Jotuns on station to turn potential massacres into repelled invasions, civilian casualties kept to an absolute minimum. It was thanks to Rita's steady stream of accurate information that dozens of Titans were wrecked, their pilots dead or prisoners. It was thanks to Rita that when Ryouga Ideguchi led his unit to invade our world of Libra Beta, we were there waiting for him.
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Jun 9, 2021 19:10
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Eight: The end of your rivalry is coming, one way or another. How do you feel? Nervous. There's not a lot I can logic out or rationalize about him. Ephraim is smart-despite the raving he is quite skilled at tactics-but he's also unpredictable, he catches us off guard. Any fight I can think of, I try to cover all the variables. What if he did X? What if he countered our Y by doing Z? It's all I can do to try and think of how to survive, how to win.
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Jun 11, 2021 18:32
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6. You wield a powerful weapon against your foe. Where did you get it? As far as the Terrans know, I'm piloting a Jotun with the callsign Loki, hand-crafted for me by Olivia Raqion. In reality, this is an off-the-shelf Jormugandr-class superheavy Jotun, with modular attachments for extreme heavy firepower and high-G improved manoeuvrability, cross-compatible with everything produced at the on-planet Jotun manufactories. If most of it got destroyed, I could be back in the field in minutes in a near-identical version, and I've got one queued up at the nearest manufactory, tagged in as my escape pod location. I arrived from offworld in this one, tweaked for local conditions at the ProxCent Prime armor works.
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Jun 11, 2021 19:26
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Queen: You happen upon your Rival in a brief respite from your conflict. What do you say to them? There was a brief ceacefire called, and I was in the room with some of the politicians making the call. I'm not a political scientist or a career politician, and I'm certainly not one of those types who's going to be after military service. But I was there, and I saw Ephraim. Only briefly. I'm not sure he recognized me. But I managed to get something out, before leaving the room. "I would prefer greatly if this war came to a peaceful end, and we formed some sort of peace accord that would both let us live in harmony, aligned but separate." I had to choke back the next sentence that would come out of my head. "That's not something a bloodthirsty psychopath like you would ever understand."
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Jul 4, 2021 03:18
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3. What awful defeat have you suffered because of your rival? The Terran bastards successfully pulled a fast one on us. A so-called ceasefire, as if that excused their murderous invasion. It stole from us time and momentum, and accomplished nothing useful. Worse, it allowed Ryouga to spit his ill educated vituperation at me directly. All I could glean was a chance to respond to his drivel, but even that was damaging to the false persona we had painstakingly constructed. There were no positives from this. "Our terms are simple. Go away, don't come back, leave us alone. That's it. That's all we ask. Stop invading our worlds and killing our people."
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Jul 4, 2021 06:29
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2: What great victory have you gotten over your Rival? The best part about this victory is that they don't even know we've gotten it. So, Rita is a good pilot, and a good soldier. A good back-up. But one place that she's always been able to beat me is her poker face. She's much better at spycraft than I was, which was why she was chosen for a special task-playing a double agent. Rita's been playing the part of a rat to the Union, pretending to be someone wanting to defect. We have had to give away some actual information to them to keep her from seeming suspicious. But we've been careful to cut it with irrelevant information, as well as try to time it so they can only prepare it slightly. And here's the big one: I won't be on Libra Beta. Udain will be. And Oceanus is built not to be a blazing fast comet like Hyperion is, but to be a juggernaught. Heck, with his talent for jumping on Jotuns, the gravity might even be an asset. Ephraim's expecting to swat a gnat, but he won't expect a bear.
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Jul 25, 2021 02:39
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9. You catch a glimpse of your rival, but are unable to conclude matters satisfactorily. How do you feel? Rita made sure to let us know that Ryouga wouldn't be on Libra Beta, through the ultrasecret channel via the chaff data, the irrelevant stuff they're happy to let us see, making it the perfect medium for encoding unseen communications. So, following the ceasefire distraction, Ryouga left the world, leaving one of his brutish lackeys in his wake. Udain, according to Rita. Big, slow Titan, perfect for being bombarded with artillery and cooked with thermal attacks from a great distance. We set things in motion for it to be destroyed accordingly, and headed off to try and follow Ryouga to his next murderous chevauchee of a Union world. We had him on long range sensors, but it was bittersweet: The Titan's path of destruction would take it through another world before we could stop him, and there was only so long our mole could hold up the double agent pretense. I just had to hope her poker face was good enough.
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Jul 25, 2021 03:45
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10: You strike a glancing blow against your Rival! How? I'm honestly not surprised that he knew about the Slipstream Charge. I knew Rita didn't leak that as part of her 'dossier' on me, but I don't doubt for a second that they have other spies elsewhere, and even then, I've not been exactly secretive about it. But one thing I've been learning from my practical experience is that the Slipstream Charge shouldn't just be limited to its use as a way to get a fast and powerful melee attack in. The skirmish was in zero-G, where I have the advantage. His Loki was obviously keyed up and customized for high-G environments, it was heavy, loaded to the teeth with all sorts of heavy weapons. So I pressed my advantaged and used a variation on the Slipstream Charge that I'd been developing: Slipstream Barrage. See, Hyperion, when in Slipstream mode, actually moves at speeds comparable to high-speed ranged laser weaponry. So, by moving at max speed while firing a lot of said high-speed laser weapons, I can make it so that I can surround the enemy with lasers, trapping them in essentially a cage of range attacks. It's like trying to dodge raindrops in a hurricane. Of course, it's not like he just gave up and rolled over-Slipstream Barrage is the definition of a death of a thousand cuts, and Loki was clearly built to be unstoppable-but it gave me time to escape and focus on the real objective.
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Aug 2, 2021 11:41
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J: You manage to get your hands on something of your rival's by guile or force! What did you take? Ah, zero gravity. An interesting theater of operations, but a necessary one to set up the grand heist. We had to make sure this was genuinely Hyperion, legitimately the customized, engineered *just so* one of a kind Titan, to eliminate the possibility of bait-and-switch. The latest technique variation of the slipstream charge was an added bonus, the footage would be educational, as would analysing the impacts on that particular Jormugandr-class model whilst I take another out of stock. Nonetheless, the information was just a bonus. Tagging their Titans, zeroing in on them, following them back to base unseen, debarkation and debrief, that was the moment to strike. Our custom overrides overwhelmed their security systems, leaving every Titan in that dock under our control in short order, with Ryouga's seat in Hyperion still warm. We departed explosively, with the entire unit of the very best Titans the Terrans had to offer, all of it slated for rapid dismantling, dispersal and analysis.
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Aug 2, 2021 12:33
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Ace: If drawn before the King, you suffer a grievous loss of some kind. What do you lose? gently caress! gently caress! gently caress! gently caress. ...gently caress. They got our Titans. They'll probably be scrap metal, reverse-engineered, and turned back on us. Hyperion... all of them. I was stupid. I shouldn't have engaged. I should have just run. And now... it's all my fault... ...no. No. This was their plan all along. If not now and then, later. Hyperion was the only super customized one in there. I'm... I'm glad that the worst loss was for me. The rest are more generic models-still somewhat customizable to pilot taste and skills, but ultimately remarkable. And Dad kept onto the blueprint. It might take a little time, but I can get a new version of Hyperion. Hyperion Mk. 2. But still... this is a blow. But... I'm not going to let despair drag me down. I'm not going to crawl into a ball and give up. I'm going to strike back twice as hard and twice as fast. Hyperion was the father of the sun, the moon, and the dawn in Greek myth. My Hyperion was born on the Moon's manufacturing plants, and his color is gold, like the sun. All that's left for him is to father the dawn of a new age. After all, it's always darkest before the dawn.
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Aug 2, 2021 12:44
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7. You have a brief, furious skirmish with your rival. What have you gained in the exchange? What have you lost? And now for part two. With the Titans out of the equation, we send in our Jotuns. The objective is the destruction of this forward base. The arrest of their personnel for war crimes would be a bonus, but we lack the wherewithal to cut off their escape options. So, this battle was not decisive, but it did buy us time, space and positional advantage. We lost out on putting Ryouga and his ilk behind bars, but I have to say that on the whole today has been a very good day.
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Aug 2, 2021 14:16
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King: If drawn after the Ace, you are the victor in the final clash. How does it go down? The loss of the Aquila G-Beta base hurt, for sure, but with the proper evacuation meaning no lives were lost, and the technology in use is capable but not exactly cutting-edge, experimental, or ground-breaking, it wasn't a large problem. While we were leaving on a shuttle, Rita confided in me something she had known about for a while but had just wanted to tell me. Ephraim had a spouse, and we knew his location. She suggested a pragmatic, tactical bit of blackmail or espionage in order to strike at his heart, and get him to dance on strings. But I said no. It would be effective, but it'd also be dishonorable. And if there's one thing that I wanted to shove in Ephraim's face, it was the fact that I had honor. But I appreciated what she was trying to do. She wanted me to live. Being a quadruple agent was really hard on her, having to keep track of how much she knew that he knew that she knew, and so on and so forth. It made my head spin. But after evacuating back to the Moon to regroup with the others. And then I was reminded: My father is a genius. He had planned to remodel and refurbish Hyperion for a bit, as part of a regular tune-up. The destruction of the original Hyperion might have been a blessing in disguise, as now, with the necessity of having to build Hyperion Mk. 2 from scratch, it meant that the upgrades could be deeper and more powerful. Once it was finished, it was... beautiful. The wings that acted as boosters, the gold and white colors, the laser weapons all over... and of course, the finishing touch. When I originally came up with the Slipstream Charge, it was a technique that took advantage of systems that already existed-diverting energy from specific subsystems to boost other ones. When Hyperion was built to take advantage of it, it was built with it in mind, automating the process which I had to activate by hand before. It was also streamlined by the nature of the Dual Titan system, which meant that I didn't have to put my all into focusing both on dodging and attacking, and Rita could assist by taking control of one of those halves while I did another, and also just generally having stronger thrusters and agility by virtue of being built for me. Hyperion Mk. 2 brings this all into overdrive. More efficient energy storage so that I can make it last longer or burn even brighter. Solar energy converters to make sure I always have a source of energy. Improvements in armor from studies into Duralloy. More, better boosters, raising the max speed. Advancements in laser weaponry, both for melee weaponry and the ranged attacks, to make them faster, more effective, and, most importantly for our foe: Better at piercing through Duralloy armor. I decided that Slipstream Charge and Slipstream Barrage deserved a more fitting name. Lightspeed Charge and Lightspeed Barrage. I'm not actually moving at the speed of light-and to be honest, considering what Einstein said, I probably shouldn't be-but it's drat close. Observers said it was almost like I was teleporting. Luckily, most of the upgrades were for making Hyperion... better at things he was already good at and shoring up weaknesses. There was very little I had to get used to. And so, once I had gotten used to it, it was time. Ephraim's current location was on Lupus 4. We had to strike quickly, while he was unaware, while he was still taking apart Titans and thinking we were on the defensive. Me and Rita had a long ride to go there. Hyperion's solar energy absorption meant that we could play faster and looser with our energy consumption, which meant we ended up making it in record time. Rita and I talked about what we wanted to do after the war. I wanted to use Titans for more than war, and thus I decided that I'd use my Titan license in an interesting new way-for sport. Imagine, super-powered robots used as a kind of mock battle, like sumo wrestling or boxing. Soon, Lupus 4 loomed in the distance. We'd triggered alarms, and clearly, while we had caught them off-guard, it wasn't as off-guard as we could have been. Like, they were surprised, but not exactly intimidated or scared. As Hyperion zipped through Jotun after Jotun, I never felt more in touch with the heartbeat of the battlefield. Rita called out where on a limb I could sever without breaching air supplies or life support, and I felt as one with Hyperion and the Hyakkuseiken. Eventually, the man of the hour came after us. At the very least, I admire that he cut to the chase. He didn't ask where that Titan had come from, or congratulate me on making this far sarcastically. He just went straight at me. He was expecting Slipstream Charge. He wasn't expecting Lightspeed Charge. He was expecting a normal laser blade, the kind that could only barely scratch Duralloy. He wasn't expecting the Hyakkuseiken. He kept fighting, though. He threw all kinds of weapons at me, and some managed to scratch me. But at the end of it all, I was the one victorious. His legs, arms, cannons, all had been cleaved off, leaving a head and torso. I could have ended it right there and then. Killed him. But I didn't. I restrained what was left of Loki, and escorted him away back to the Federation's headquarters. We arrested him. With one of the crown jewels of their defenses locked away in a prison, the fighting because much easier. Some planets surrendered. A few scattered resistances dragged it out but were eventually found. Eventually, a formal pact was signed between the Union and the Federation. They would be allies again. I had to really press in some areas for less punishing terms-I didn't want the cycle to repeat again. We addressed grievances they had had. We reduced the production of military-grade Titans, and existing ones were retrofitted for exploration, terraforming, industry, and, yes, sports. Dad was finally able to take a break. He retired from military design and focused on civilian Titan development, and he and Mom spend a lot more time together. As for me? Hyperion Mk. 2 was retrofitted for sport, and I began my journey through a new battle: the brackets of the Great Steel Battle League. With peace secured, I went from war hero to a champion of the ring. Eventually, I married Rita. And my Rival? Well, I also pushed in the court for him to avoid the death penalty and allowing his spouse visitation rights, provided he didn't use them to break his lover out. That was the last I heard of him, but from what I can tell, the visits are monthly. Who knows. Ephraim's not getting paroled on good behavior, but maybe the two of them will be allowed to be together. Maybe on one of those new deep-space cold-freeze long trips towards the edges of the universe and newer, further away planets. I dunno. I haven't seen him in literal years. Okay, are we done? Good, because this stool was getting uncomfortable. Now I need to pick out a good suit for this documentary's first screening...
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Aug 2, 2021 16:08
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One remains. Congratulations Ryouga, may your Star rise and rise, casting your light over the heavens.  The End.
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Aug 4, 2021 03:27
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